Distribution and habitat edit The
With the exception of Antarctica, all of the world’s continents are home to cuckoo populations. They are not found in the driest regions of the Middle East and North Africa, the far north and northwest of North America, or the southwest of South America, though they do occur there as passage migrants. Although they are mostly found as vagrants in the oceanic islands of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, two species are known to breed on several Pacific islands and to migrate across much of the Pacific during the winter. [9].
The most widely distributed subfamily of cuckoos, the Cuculinae, is found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania. Among the Phaenicophaeinae, the yellowbill is found throughout Africa, the couas are native to Madagascar, and the malkohas and Asian ground cuckoos are only found in southern Asia. The coucals are found throughout tropical Asia, Australia, and the Solomon Islands, extending south from Africa. The final three subfamilies are distributed throughout the New World; they can be found in both North and South America. Of the three subfamilies, the Coccyzinae are the most northern, breeding in Canada; the anis, on the other hand, are only found as far north as Florida, and the typical ground cuckoos are found in the Southwest of the United States.
Appropriate habitat gives cuckoos a place to breed and a supply of food, primarily insects and especially caterpillars; for brood parasites, however, appropriate habitat for the host species is necessary. Cuckoos occur in a wide variety of habitats. Most species are found in forests and woodlands, mainly in the tropical evergreen rainforests, where they are primarily but not only arboreal. A few species live in mangrove forests or are even restricted there; these include the New World’s aptly named mangrove cuckoo, certain malkohas, coucals, and Australia’s little bronze cuckoo. Some species of cuckoos live in open areas as well as forests; in the case of the greater roadrunner or the pallid cuckoo, these areas may even be deserts. To maximize their use of potential brood hosts, temperate migratory species, like the common cuckoo, inhabit a variety of habitats, from treeless moors to reed beds (where they parasitize reed warblers) (where they parasitize meadow pipits)
Migration edit Chestnut-winged cuckoo in Singapore
The majority of cuckoo species live in permanent residence, but some migrate seasonally on a regular basis, and others migrate partially across portions of their range.
Because there is more food available in warmer climates during the winter, species that breed at higher latitudes migrate there. After breeding in New Zealand, the long-tailed koel flies to its wintering grounds in Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. This is “possibly the most remarkable overwater migration of any land bird.” “[11] The black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos breed in North America and travel 4000 kilometers nonstop across the Caribbean Sea. Other long migration flights are made by the European common cuckoo, which flies nonstop over the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert on its way from Europe to central Africa, and the lesser cuckoo, which flies from Africa to India. [12].
Situated in the tropical center of Africa, ten species regularly migrate within the continent in a pattern known as polarization. These species move north and south to breed in the more arid and open savannah and deserts. [13] This is comparable to the circumstances in tropical Asia, where one species migrates in this manner, and the Neotropics, where none do. Approximately 283 percent of Australian species are either internal migrants or migrate to New Guinea and Indonesia following the breeding season. [14].
Certain species migrate during the day, like the channel-billed cuckoo, or at night, like the yellow-billed cuckoo.
Description edit The
The Old World brood-parasitic cuckoos belong to the subfamily Cuculinae. With (usually) long tails, short legs, long, narrow wings, and an arboreal lifestyle, they typically follow the classic shape. The largest species in the family, the channel-billed cuckoo, also has the largest bill, resembling a hornbill’s. The nonparasitic cuckoos of the Old World, such as couas, malkohas, and ground cuckoos, belong to the subfamily Phaenicophaeinae. They are more terrestrial cuckoos, with short, rounded wings and powerful, frequently long legs. Brighter plumage and brightly colored bare skin around the eyes are typical characteristics of this subfamily. Another terrestrial Old World subfamily of cuckoos with long tails, long legs, and short wings is the coucals. These birds are big and heavy-set, with the greater black coucal being the largest and roughly the same size as the channel-billed cuckoo. The subfamily Coccyzinae comprises arboreal and long-tailed genera, including several large insular forms. Being terrestrial and long-legged, the New World ground cuckoos resemble the Asian ground cuckoos. Among them is the long-billed roadrunner, which can run up to 30 km/h when pursuing prey. The larger guira cuckoo and the tiny, awkward anis make up the atypical anis subfamily, which is the last one. The anis have massive bills and smooth, glossy feathers. Some species, such as the.
The cuckoo’s feathers are typically delicate and frequently get wet after prolonged rain. After rain, Cuckoos frequently sunbathe, and the anis hold their wings open like vultures or cormorants to dry. Considerable variation in the plumage is exhibited by the family. While some species have bright and elaborate plumage, others, especially the brood parasites, have cryptic plumage. This is especially true of glossy cuckoos, or Chrysococcyx, whose plumage is iridescent. Certain cuckoos bear a hawk-like resemblance in the genus Accipiter due to barring on the underside; this appears to frighten away potential hosts, thereby granting the female access to a host nest. Some brood parasites have young that are colored to resemble the host’s young. For instance, Australian koels have brown chicks that resemble their honeyeater hosts, but Asian koels that breed in India produce black offspring that resemble their crow hosts. Pluckoos rarely exhibit sexual dimorphism in their plumage; instead, parasitic Old World species are more likely to exhibit it. Ten primary and nine to thirteen secondary flight feathers are present in Cuckoos. Except for anis, which has eight tail feathers, all species have ten.
FAQ
Are cuckoos protected?
Is cuckoo a bad bird?
What food eats cuckoos?
What is special about the bird cuckoo?